Some listeners hear the word “laurel” and others are hearing “yanny.” The audio hotly divided the GroundFloor Media and CenterTable offices as we declared our undying loyalties to #TeamLaurel or #TeamYanny. Yesterday, the New York Times even developed a tool to change the frequency of the audio clip so readers can hear both “yanny” and “laurel.”

We thoroughly enjoyed watching different brands and celebrities seize the viral moment to weigh in on the debate throughout the week. Read more after the jump…

Last week we had the opportunity to attend the Social Media Marketing World in San Diego – a two-and-a-half day session-packed conference focused on the most relevant trends and information in the world of social media.

Given that South by Southwest Interactive kicks off later this week (stay tuned for daily updates from our two-person team of Jon and Adrienne), we’re going to combine a longer form discussion from what we learned at Social Media Marketing World with our annual SXSW Denver Download in early April – let us know if you’re interested in attending!

In the meantime, here are my three main takeaways from #SMMW18 – with a quick video from the conference to explain some of the concepts as well.

1) The Algorithms Continue to Change Our Focus

Facebook’s shift away from brand and publisher posts in our news feeds toward one-on-one peer interaction has left a lot of brand managers scratching their heads about staying relevant on the platform. The key – according to Social Media Insider Founder Michael Stelzner – will be unique and tailored content with the goal of prompting individuals to share with their peers. In other words, “being human at scale.” Some additional insights on this topic include:

Longer form content will be critical – videos, in particular

Facebook’s focus on “Facebook Watch” will also mean a shift toward more episodic content. Think about producing various video series that take viewers on a storytelling journey, and make it as shareable as possible

The algorithm change combined with Snapchat competition will likely lead to more Facebook Stories from individuals – so much so that we’ll likely see fewer wall posts and more Stories in the near future (the future is 15 second Story videos)

2) Focus on Being More Strategic with Paid Efforts

Moving forward we’re also going to have to be more strategic with our promoted content and paid campaigns on every platform. Some specific examples from the conference include:

Be more selective with where you’re spending your money. Promoting content that is already successful will always be more beneficial than forcing a promotion on content that that isn’t resonating with your audience. Think of it as pushing a ball downhill vs. trying to fit a square peg into a round hole

Utilize Facebook Custom Audiences and retargeting features more frequently. We spend a lot of time and resources creating content, and we shouldn’t have a “one and done” mindset with our paid campaigns. If a group of people watched your first video in a series, consider retargeting those same people with a paid campaign for the second video in your series. “Custom Audiences are your bank account,” as one presenter commented

Make sure you have a hook, ignite emotion, describe your solution and finish with a specific call-to-action with every piece of promoted content you produce. At the same time keep your content as concise as possible – skip the bumpers/intros/bios in your video content to grab attention as quickly as possible

3) Don’t Stop When the Campaign Ends

We often miss the opportunity to follow up or even say “thank you” with our campaigns. Use those custom and engaged audiences to keep the conversation going after your campaign ends (maybe with your next campaign or content effort). And if you have an audience that made a purchase or took some form of action, don’t forget to say thank you in a creative way, and follow up with specific next steps. Spell it out simply so your customers have a seamless, positive experience and understand clearly what happens next.

That surprise turned out to be Netflix’s release of the trailer for The Cloverfield Paradox, the latest installment in the Cloverfield series. The trailer came out of nowhere and with the subsequent announcement that the full movie would be on the streaming service immediately after the game. For years, studios have used the Super Bowl as a jumping off point to sell their summer blockbusters to the masses. Now, a sci-fi movie franchise famous for its mysterious films made the biggest splash on the biggest advertising stage there is. Netflix has created a reputation of making itself into entertainment’s biggest showman and on Super Bowl Sunday, they did it again.

Millennials want companies to pay attention to how they are marketing and do so in a social responsible way.

Millennials just might be the key to driving socially responsible marketing practices. They want the companies they patronize to practice business sustainably and ethically. Not only that, they want companies to pay attention to how they are marketing and do so in a socially responsible way. Why should we listen? Because by 2030 millennials will outnumber boomers by 22 million per a Pew Research Center report.

Here’s a few more stats to consider from Nielson’s Global Corporate Sustainability Report published in 2015:

Finding the right mix of prominent influencers and influencers you can afford is a marketing tightrope. Anyone who has an ongoing influencer relations effort in place is all-too-familiar with that balance, and this past week we’ve come across two great articles that discuss the advent of the “Micro-Influencer.” Twitter is also testing two new analytics features we’re excited to see come to fruition. And: Are you listening? Podcasts are coming back in a big way.

Micro-Influencers:

SmartBrief:How to Work with (or Become) a Micro-InfluencerIt’s not necessarily a brand new idea, but the concept of “micro-influencers” – those who aren’t full-fledged influencers with hundreds of thousands of followers and require five-digit product mentions – is something that nearly every brand should consider. These individuals with followers ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 tend to be more authentic, more uniquely engaging, and drive interest in a real-world manner. Read more after the jump…

This week one of our account teams held an “Intense Period Debrief” – an opportunity to assess what went well, what could have gone better and what we can do moving forward to learn from experiences once a project is complete. The irony of this particular meeting was that, in taking the time to take a step back, much of what we learned from this particular account was the importance of taking calculated steps back more often.

Add aggressive deadlines and high expectations to the list, and we’re frequently working in a world that pushes forward so fast that it’s easy to forget to step back and think strategically once a plan is in place. Ultimately, the best-laid plans don’t mean much if expectations aren’t set, processes aren’t communicated, and those plans don’t evolve based on trends and ongoing data.

Some of the CenterTable video production team onsite at Red Rocks Amphitheater.

The changes within the marketing and communications industry over the past decade have been equally swift, exciting and unforgiving. Ten years ago, Facebook and Twitter were certainly not household names, Denver had two newspapers, the iPhone was just launched (with a 2.0 MP camera and no video capabilities), Instagram and Snapchat were still years from existence and Periscope was just a thing on a submarine.

Should social media be a space for branding/thought leadership or a function of your sales team?

We work with clients on this issue often and the short answer is that social media, when done correctly, should do both. On one side, organizations shouldn’t (or can’t afford to) blindly pass on an opportunity to generate sales or action through a channel where opportunity exists.

Or using it to build trust and credibility? On the other hand, social media isn’t simply “another sales channel.”

On the other hand, social media isn’t simply “another sales channel.”

We (and many others) have made the comparison often: social media should be treated like a cocktail party or networking event. If you walked up to everyone you met at an event, told them what you do, why they should work with you, hand them a business card and walk away, you wouldn’t be making a great impression on anyone. The better approach is to engage with those you’re talking with and actually build rapport and credibility.

In my time as a news reporter there were two types of producers (generally): Those who only used the live truck for breaking/extremely visual stories and those who used live trucks in virtually every newscast.

Fast forward more years than I’m willing to admit, and we’ve got a similar situation now that Facebook, Instagram and Twitter all have “live” video options. Many brands and individuals are using live video options extremely sparingly (if at all) while others seem to be using it all of the time.

The internet went into a flurry after Donald Trump’s Twitter typo, trying to decipher what exactly he was trying to say. As expected, memes erupted instantly. Now, however, the word might actually have a meaning. On June 12, Rep. Mike Quigley (D. Illinois) introduced a proposal that would amend the current Presidential Records Act to make it illegal for the president to delete social media posts. The proposal’s full name is the Communications Over Various Feeds Electronically for Engagement (COVFEFE) Act.

Post navigation

Sister agencies GroundFloor Media (GFM) and CenterTable navigate the blurred lines between marketing, public relations and advertising – online and off. The GFM team creates and manages messages from inception through an intermediary to the end consumer, while the CenterTable team creates messages that engage directly with the end consumer. Both agencies work with a wide range of clients – from food & beverage to health & wellness to technology & telecomm – who consistently offer us innovative and creative opportunities to reach new audiences. We developed this blog to share our experiences, advice and industry commentary with other communicators. We hope you enjoy it!